Deus Ex Machina
by Jimmy the Gothic Egg
Summary: Bluetara. And kissing. And Katara saving the Blue Spirit. There's other stuff too, but we like the kissing.


Response to a fic challenge on katarazuko. Katara saves the Blue Spirit.

_Deus ex Machina_

In the life of a fugitive, there are many times that one finds himself surrounded by someone he does not want to be surrounded by.

This is all too true for Zuko.

There were soldiers on every side of him, more than he could see, mostly for the blue mask on his face. He blinked sweat out of his eyes as he dodged three fireballs then a forth and whipped the air around him with the two broadswords. Other swords whistled by as he jumped onto a nearby tree, landing on a branch then hopping to the next. They followed his movements, flooding the forest in a wave of red. He ducked further in, wincing as fire singed his pant legs. The soldiers surrounded him, and he cursed his luck for the millionth time.

And then there was silence.

The fire stopped, the soldiers stopped, and he stopped, eyes wide beneath the mask. Someone had fallen in the stream of soldiers, and Zuko was not happy when he recognized her.

The goddamn _water-bender_ that traveled with the Avatar.

The fates were obviously waiting for every opportunity to make him stutter.

The girl was staring wide eyed around, her face growing as pale as his. Everyone was frozen with her arrival, until she looked over at him. Her eyes seemed to strike a blow, and he fell out of the tree.

Twenty or more fireballs were aimed at her, but she moved faster than they could see. The cap of her gourd was off, the water streamed out, and in ten seconds, she had incapacitated the first line of soldiers. Before Zuko could even straighten himself, she was standing over a mound of unconscious soldiers, breathing hard, holding her hands out as if to push something.

How fast could he crawl away before she noticed?

Too late.

She stood over him, leaning down to place a hand on his mask. He grabbed her hand, scaring her until he let his hand lax.

"Sorry," she murmured. Then, with nothing else to say… "I'm Katara."

She couldn't quite see his eyes, so she stood up, offering a hand to help him. He brushed it aside, replacing the two swords to their place at his side. Now she realized why he'd looked familiar. The wanted posters had shown a mask like the one he wore, and the stance with the swords were similar. Obviously, she thought, this is the infamous Blue Spirit.

He saw her recognition and began thinking the worst. Did she realize the face behind the mask or just the mask itself? He began thinking of a way out of this. Hopefully something where he wouldn't have to speak. If she recognized him by his voice, he would be screwed.

"I think…" She glanced at the soldiers on the ground, suddenly feeling very shy. How a girl could take down half an army and then be shy around a boy, he was uncertain, but she was. "I think I saved you…"

He cursed himself. _I could've handled myself. You just had to walk in the middle of it._

A grin broke over her features, and he found himself frightened by it.

"That means…" She leaned forward innocently, looking up at him through dark lashes he'd never noticed she'd had. "You owe me."

_Oh no…_

He tried to imagine a thousand different ways to get out of what she was going to say next. Nothing came to mind.

"So what will it be…?" She smiled evilly, rocking on her heels now. Oh yes, this would be good. She could see his nervousness grow. But what to ask of a fugitive she's only heard stories of. Aang had mentioned him, and she'd seen his posters just about everywhere they went, and she was largely curious…

"What's beneath your mask?"

Of course it was the question to ask. He was mysterious, enigmatic, probably hideously handsome beneath the blue oni mask, and she wanted to see it.

"No," he answered, not even worried about the no talking rule he'd instilled. It wouldn't matter anyway, if she got to see his face.

She pouted, sticking her lip out in an annoyed way. It was an expression as foreboding as his sister's smile—or hers for that fact. "Why not?"

_I'm a banished prince with a ransom on his head who has constantly tried to capture your friend who happens to be the Avatar, and have tied you up to a pole and constantly harassed you just to capture the goddamn boy so I can go home and take my place back as prince._

"What's the point of wearing a mask if I let everyone see my face?" he answered instead.

She gave him a determined look, reached out, and pounced.

Zuko can honestly never say he'd had a girl throw herself at him before. But Katara had not hesitated on grabbing onto the side of his face just to see it. He pushed her away, and she froze.

Of course he wasn't used to fighting girls, and the fates were at their usual business (making his life miserable.) The combination lead him to grabbing Katara's breasts, completely oblivious to the fact that they were there. He waiting for her to scream or punch, but instead she grabbed his tunic and ripped off his mask.

For the third time that hour, everything froze. He shut his eyes, waiting for the response.

"You're…" She paused, growing quiet. "Oh."

Oh? _Oh!_ That wasn't a reaction! Oh goddamn it! He would rather her scream and attack him then stand there in silence.

"Oh," she said again. "Then… you were…" Her fingers gripped his shirt tighter. "Oh."

What was with all the "ohs"? She couldn't say anything else?

And then he felt a slight pressure on his lips, and he opened his eyes. She was kissing him. _She was kissing him_. Did every girl he meet have to be absolutely insane?

She pulled back, not quite smiling, but it was there in her eyes. "You still owed me."

The mask was left, forgotten.

**Notes:**

So, not quite what the prompt was meant to be, but she asked for making out. I did the best I could.

Every girl Zuko meets _is_ chronically insane. He must be flypaper for freaks or something.


End file.
